An increasing number of fields require secure collection and storage of sensitive data for reporting purposes. As data is available in an increased number of forms and through improved networking capabilities, the demands made upon secure information storage and reporting are increasingly challenging. By way of example, medical data may be collected by medical institutions, both relating to operation of the institution and to particular care or physiological conditions of a patient. The data may be required by medical professionals for analyzing the patient condition and for providing additional care. However, because the information is highly sensitive, care must be taken in its secure storage and retrieval. Similar confidentiality demands are made on data relating to utilization of equipment within institutions. In the financial arena, records of financial transactions, such as accounts, account transfers, asset and stock purchases and sales, and the like are subject to similar demands. The account manager or owner, while requiring perhaps frequent and rapid access to the information, expects the information to be stored in a highly secure manner which protects both the identity of the owner and the integrity of the data, and which generally prevents unauthorized access.
The secure storage and reporting of data is not only affected by the sensitivity of the data in individual fields of activity, but is challenged by the approaches used to access and transmit reports based upon the data. For example, medical data often must be available remotely to diagnosing physicians or institutions, being transferred by wide area networks which, while providing some measure of security, may be subject to unauthorized access. Similarly, in financial transactions, users are increasingly interested in obtaining records and reports through wide area networks and similar configurable links, while nevertheless requiring that the data be stored and accessed in a highly secure manner. This is particularly true in the increased use of the Internet for remote storage and access of data, in performing financial and other transactions, messaging, and so forth.
A range of activities are ongoing to enhance the security of data storage and access. Such techniques have typically included the use of passwords and other codes to limit access to authorized persons. Similarly, encryption technologies have been developed that can provide powerful tools in the transfer of data, requiring decryption through various means and, inherently, providing for limited access or at least deciphering of the data. While such techniques have greatly enhanced data security, further improvements are needed.
In many instances, complex data transfer techniques are not suitable for protection of data or reports. Particularly in Internet and other network applications, users may need more straightforward approaches to obtaining reports based upon their secure data. In general, it would be desirable to provide a straightforward technique which, while essentially transparent to the user, provides for a highly effective barrier between the report and its delivery file, and the underlying database repository. Moreover, where appropriate, because large or comprehensive databases may include a vast array of information, the system performance may be significantly degraded by repeated and unanticipated reporting requests. System performance could be greatly enhanced by pre-scheduled or at least periodic secure reporting, again separating somewhat the report delivery function from the report generation and data storage functions.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved technique for secure generation of reports based upon sensitive data stored in a data repository. There is a particular need for a technique which can be applied in such settings as wide area networks, particularly the Internet and its progeny, for securely accessing sensitive data and reporting the data in a manner which does not significantly affect the performance of the database or its accessing software and which provides the desired degree of separation between the database and the report generation software.